UNHCR Map – Burundi Situation: Displacement of Burundians into neighbouring countries (as of 20. July 2015)

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My thoughts after seeing the UNHCR Refugee Map of fleeing Burundian people to neighbouring countries: 

If you calculate the numbers from the UNHCR the numbers are staggering. The number of refugees from Burundi in neighboring countries is totally 177,503 people. That is a giant number and in my country that would be a big town and great urban area of people. So if this numbers doesn’t make your mind bubble and think about the situation in Burundi, because well, that amount of people wouldn’t leave if there wasn’t reasons. So now we’re in a situation where the Transit camps and Refugee camps are getting filled. There been worries about the situation in the DRC or Democratic Republic of Congo, because of the old refugees after the Rwanda crisis and the DRC wars has made the situation in the Kivu’s regions will make tensions if the reports are right. Let’s hope that the people who have fled from Burundi will get into a good space. Or in a short amount of time go back and feel safe in their home country. Peace.

Press Release: Begining of the Deployment in Burundi of the African Union Human Rights Observers and Military Experts (22.07.2015)

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Press Release: NRM will not Tolerate Independents (22.07.2015)

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Press Freedom in the East African nations with ratings of the environment in 2014 (+ reports that the Ugandan regime turned off the transmitter of the Radio Baba in Jinja yesterday)

Dr. Kizza Besigye Jinja Iganga-Jinja Rallies 21.07.2015

Yesterday on the 21.07.2015 the NRM regime cut off the radio transmitter for the “Baba Radio” or as it’s really named 87.7 Basogo Baino FM in Jinja after Dr. Kizza Besigye had a great rally earlier in the day in Iganga and Jinja. Therefore it made me go through the report on ‘Press Freedom in 2014 – Harsh Laws and Violence Drive Global Decline’ that is coming from the NGO Freedom house. Today on 22.07.2015 Mr. Innocent Anyole is sacked from his job after trying to interview Dr. Kizza Besigye this sacking happen by Radio Director Hon. Moses Grace Balyeku, the NRM Chairman of Jinja and MP for Jinja West Constituency. He sure followed party line and broke the wing of the man who introduced FDC man Dr. Kizza Besigye. Well, let me introduce the Press Freedom in East Africa according to the global rankings of the Freedom House and their report on how it was in 2014.

This report has three important levels of how the media is and which place in society it has:

  1. Free
  2. Partly Free
  3. Not Free

The difference between them comes to how great power the countries government controls the media or let them be. How the laws and treatment of journalist and media institutions is and how the events surrounding them have been in the recent year.

I will focus on the East African Countries and those in the “area” around how the quote and place this countries in the report. Because I write about the South Sudan, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda. These are the countries that will be taken. Not the whole world but the basic places that I usually cover in my blog somehow. So it shouldn’t be surprise to anyone.

Before addressing the numbers and rankings of the nations, let me take the quotes on some of the nations from the report as well:

“Ethiopian authorities stepped up arrests of independent journalists, including the Zone 9 bloggers, leading more than 30 to flee the country during the year, according to CPJ” (…) “In Kenya contained several vaguely worded clauses curtailing press freedom, including the threat of three years in prison for journalists who fail to obtain police permission before reporting on terrorism investigations or operations, or for coverage “likely to cause public alarm, incitement to violence, or disturb public peace” (…) “Somalia’s score improved from 82 to 79 due to the increased ability of private actors to open media outlets and the greater distribution of media, especially radio, throughout the south-central part of the country” (…) “South Sudan’s score declined from 62 to 68 due to the government’s near-complete disregard for constitutional and legal protections for freedom of the press in 2014, as well as the lack of such protections in rebel-held areas; a marked increase in restrictions imposed on journalists by the security forces; and heightened censorship, self-censorship, and retaliatory attacks on journalists”.

From here I will address the rankings of the East African nations coming when it comes to press freedom and the numbers that they have gotten from the expert committees that gone through reports and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX). The stories this numbers are telling and the situation that the media has on the ground is staggering. Therefore it’s a story that has to be told. Now will explain the criteria of the global ranking that is made of scoring process, the value of the levels and what they mean for each country and last the main groups of questions that the researchers and analyst in cooperation with IFEX. That has crunched the numbers with the questions and reports from sources from the whole world.

Criteria:

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers”

Scoring Process:

“The research and scoring process involves more than 90 analysts—including outside consultants and members of the core research team headquartered in New York—who prepare the draft ratings and country reports” (…) “the other members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) network for providing detailed and timely analyses of press freedom violations in a variety of countries worldwide, on which we rely to make our judgments”.

Scale Point for the levels:

“A country’s final score (from 0 to 100) represents the total of the scores allotted for each question. A total score of 0 to 30 results in a press freedom status of Free; 31 to 60 a status of Partly Free; and 61 to 100 a status of Not Free”.

Questions that makes the score:

The scores are put into three categories: Legal Environment (0-30points), Political Environment (0-40points) and Economical Environment (0-30points).

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Placing of the East African nations: 

Rank Country Score Status
164 Burundi 74 Not Free
172 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 79 Not Free
180 Ethiopia 83 Not Free
124 Kenya 57 Partly Free
172 Rwanda 79 Not Free
172 Somalia* 79 Not Free
152 South Sudan 68 Not Free
115 Tanzania 54 Partly Free
123 Uganda 56 Partly Free

*Somaliland got ranked 115 – Score of 54 and was set to be ‘Partly Free’

What this means:

This tells something about the environment that the press in the East African nations goes through. Of the eight nations three is ‘Partly Free’: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This means that certain levels of freedom is on the media, but has certain levels of strings on the press. It’s worse in the rest of the nations because they are on the level of ‘Not Free’: Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Somalia and South Sudan. And they did make Somalialand as a separate territory as a ‘Party Free’ whiles the country as a whole is set as ‘Not Free’. Therefore in that setting certain areas of Somalia federation has more freedom then the rest.

What that is shocking for me is how low scores countries of Uganda has compared to Ethiopia. Ethiopia has been strict on media and journalist. Especially to those who are abiding opposition in the country. Uganda has many outlets, still the big ones has over time been disorganized by the regime like the Daily Monitor. That has not happen with similar media in Kenya. Though the laws for media there is isn’t similar reports on shut downs of radio station and papers when the regime disagrees. Rwanda I am sure that the government is strict on the media, because the news from there is usually in the mood of the regime. Burundi if it wasn’t for protests and deflectors, there would be less news and information on the regime of Pierre Nkuruziza. DRC and Kabila haven’t put this into motions after all the issues that have been in the last decades. The regime has control and want to be sure of the information that is put out. Therefore when you hear something negative it’s from the UN bodies or MONUSCO but not the press of the DRC or journalists. Tanzania has its freedom but also strangles on the media. The party has been running the country since independence so the feelings is that their intertwined and feel like they are together, instead of actually being critical of the politicians and society. But it should be worried that the different countries and how big the difference between the top and bottom of the scale in the East African. From Tanzania who got 54 points and the worst was Ethiopia got 83 points – the close competition was Rwanda, Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo got all 79 points on the scale. 60 Points scale is the max for the ‘Partly Fee’ media nations. So that the environment is on a far level from partly and even longer way to being free. The thing that is worrying is that it’s less than 5 points from ‘Partly Free’ to ‘Not Free’ with Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. It’s just small tweaks and harassment of the media and in 2016 report will degrade this nations and how the media has a place in these countries. Though it doesn’t look to good, but hopefully I and others can be surprised. Until then let hope that the media get into a place where they can actually monitor their areas and speak their minds without fear or legal repercussions. Peace.

Reference:

Dunham, Jennifer, Nelson, Bret & Ahekyan, Elen – ‘Press Freedom in 2014 – Harsh Laws and Violence Drive Global Decline’ – April 2015 – Freedom House

Vuyo Mvoko updates on the Burundian Elections (Youtube-Clip)

Here are international statements on todays voting and Presidential elections in Burundi

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You can see usual suspect Didier Reynders from Belgium speaking on the country again. U.S. has to speak and does say it softly. Canada’s foreign affairs also had an opinion on the election. Red Cross is concerned about the refugee situation concerning the violence in Burundi and how it affects the bordering countries and their refugee camps.

Kenyan TV report:  – This is from today and is a Youtube clip.

U.S. Response:

“The legitimacy of the electoral process in Burundi over the past few months has been tainted by the government’s harassment of opposition and civil society members, closing down of media outlets and political space, and intimidation of voters. Dozens have been killed, and as many as 167,000 Burundians are now refugees in neighboring nations” (…) “Attempts by the Government of Burundi to deny citizens the ability to choose their leadership freely, without intimidation and threat of violence, will force the United States to carefully review all aspects of our partnership not yet suspended, including the imposition of visa restrictions on those responsible for — or complicit in — promoting instability in Burundi through violence” (Kirby, 2015).

Belgium response:

“Didier Reynders deeply regrets the organisation of presidential elections in Burundi, today 21 July. These elections do not meet the minimal requirements of inclusiveness and transparency. They are not credible and will not contribute to a solution for the crisis in the country” (…) “Belgium calls on Burundi to revive the spirit of consensus and inclusiveness of the Arusha agreement, that is still the cornerstone for constitutional order and stability in Burundi” (Reynders, 2015).

Canada response:

MP for Foreign Affairs Rob Nicholson says: ““His bid has unleashed instability and violence characterized by the unrestrained use of force by militias acting with total impunity, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. Close to 170,000 Burundians—including prominent members of government and key democratic institutions as well as journalists—have fled to neighbouring countries fearing for their lives. Dozens of people have already died in violence related to the political unrest” (…) “Canada calls on President Nkurunziza and his government to protect the rights and interests of all Burundians and work with the East African Community and the African Union in accordance with the Arusha Peace Accords” (Quinney, 2015).

EAC response:

“he EAC Election Observer Mission started arriving in the Republic of Burundi on 17th July 2015 and underwent briefing on Election Observation Methodologies and from CENI” (…) “The EAC Election Observer Mission was deployed today, 20th July 2015 to various Provinces of Burundi to observe the polling and counting processes” (…) “The EAC has been involved in the Burundi Electoral process since January 2015 through the Panel of Eminent Persons (PEP), Pre-Election Expert Mission (PEMi), the Council of Ministers, and the Summit of the EAC Heads of State” (EAC, 2015).

Red Cross fears:

“In one day alone, more than 30 malnourished Burundian children were admitted and showing secondary complications including malaria, pneumonia, worms, anemia and diarrhea. At least four known deaths of malnourished infants have been recorded so far” (…) “Burundian Presidential elections, set to take placed on Tuesday, July 21st. An estimated 25,000 people have fled to the Tanzanian border camp in the last month alone, bringing the total number of Burundian refugees to around 78,000; a fifth of which are thought to be children under five” (…) “Tensions are running high between new arrivals and the long-established refugee population from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), most of whom arrived in 1996 following the Rwandan genocide and the subsequent regional instability” (Carrol, 2015).

Last thought: 

Hope you found this interesting while the voting and polling is coming. I can’t wait to see what the EAC report on the election says and we all know kind of already what result will be. The numbers is the thing we wonder about. But the winner and third term is happening because like for instans the opposition parties Agathon Rwasa FNL has pulled out and so has other parties done. So you can just see what happens and it sure will be the winner of Presidential Election of 2015. The third term of the CNDD-FDD… so many means is breaking with the Arusha Peace Agreement of 2006. Well, Pierre doesn’t agree and doesn’t care. He is on the Power Kool-Aid and can’t have enough. All of the people of Burundi don’t all agree with the President Nkurunziza. Peace.

Reference:

Carrol, Phil – ‘Child Malnutrition Levels Soar in Tanzanian Refugee Camp as Burundian Presidential Election Approaches’ (21.07.2015) link: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=9241315&ct=14743281

EAC – ‘EAC Election Observer Mission to the Presidential Elections in the Republic of Burundi’ (20.07.2015) link: http://eac.int/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1916:eac-election-observer-mission-to-the-presidential-elections-in-the-republic-of-burundi&catid=146:press-releases&Itemid=194&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Kirby, Jon – ‘Elections in Burundi Will Lack Credibility’ (21.07.2015) link: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/07/245104.htm

Reynders, Didier – ‘Didier Reynders regrets the organisation of presidential elections in Burundi today 21 July’ (21.07.2015) link: https://appablog.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/didier-reynders-regrets-the-organisation-of-presidential-elections-in-burundi-today-21-july/

Quinney, Johanna – ‘Canada Condemns Use of Violence for Political Goals in Burundi Ahead of Election (21.07.2015) Link: http://foreignaffairs.co.nz/2015/07/21/canada-condemns-use-of-violence-for-political-goals-in-burundi-ahead-of-election/#sthash.A17ljQ8C.dpuf

On 20.07.2015 Vincent Kaggwa was released from undisclosed locations by the UPF

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Vincent Kaggwa was released yesterday. Good news from the regime. Who knew they had just picked him up to an undisclosed location without trial. Picking him up because he was wearing a Amama Mbabazi t-Shirt. But we can be glad he is breathing. Still we can ask where is Sam Mugumya? Never thought the UPF or IGP Gen. Kale Kayihura would release the brother. But on the 20.07.2015 he was out and free again. Peace.

Listen to the Ugandan Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi talking about the President, Oil and Riches (Youtube-Clip)

My opinions after listening to Tamale Mirundi rants:

If your ever think that this guy actually has been living as a spokesperson for living and being a called serious man! Than at this moment you will struggle with that, right? He doesn’t seem like that after this tale and speeches. Neither if you respect anybody he talk about. It’s hard to take him serious when he speaks about changing borders to get more Oil to Uganda from Democratic Republic of Congo. An the tale about London and Cameroon, poisioning wells, seriously?  Then the struggles and cons of Maj Edith Nakalema and Brigadier Proscovia Nalweyiso in the Statehouse. As a Press Secretary of the President of Uganda. Is talking cracy here..! And whatever: he says isn’t showing character as he wishes. He sounds more like a litte afraid man! That he forsees that somebody will steal the goatmeat from his plate. After that he is trying to convince the public of staying the course for the Team Museveni 2016. Hope he got enough cars to sell on the used market in Kampala. Because as a serious spokesman and Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi is sounding just like a Lone Ranger on steroids. Enjoy! Peace.

Press Release: FIFA fails to tackle Corruption crisis (20.07.2015) and FIFA Press Release: Ethics Committee regarding Code of Ethics (16.07.2015)

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Measures announced today by FIFA fall far short of what is required to clean out corruption at FIFA and its associations.

Instead of agreeing to a serious independent reform commission, FIFA today announced yet another task force made up of 10 FIFA confederation members and one independent chair who has not yet been named. This will not be sufficient to win back trust in FIFA.

So far nine current and former officials face corruption charges in the United States. A judge has called FIFA a racketeering-influenced corrupt organisation. Those charged include officials on the highest FIFA committees and responsible for FIFA’s governance and compliance.

There are on-going investigations into the awarding of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022, and the Swiss authorities are investigating 81 suspicious activities involving FIFA.

Transparency International said that without a real independent reform commission there can be no confidence that FIFA can end its corruption crisis.

“FIFA is a rotten democracy where votes can be bought, bribes can be made and money can be laundered. It has promised reform many times before and failed dismally. They have failed fans and supporters today,” said Neil Martinson, Transparency International’s Director of Communications.

Transparency International with the #NewFIFANow campaign and the International Trade Union Confederation will continue to put pressure on the sponsors to ensure FIFA makes the kind of root and branch reforms that will lead to a new culture of integrity.

Transparency International says that to clean up FIFA has to:

  • appoint independent non-executives to the Executive Committee, changing the President is not enough
  • conduct independent integrity checks. FIFA announced it would introduce in-house integrity checks as part of the Ethics Committee remit
  • complete public declarations of interests; publication of salaries is not enough
  • two terms limited to four years and no more
  • complete financial transparency for FIFA, the regional confederations and the national football associations

Sepp Blatter was in charge when most of the corruption took place over many years. He should step down immediately. Potential candidates to replace him must accept that without an independent reform commission there will be no confidence or trust in FIFA.

Press contact(s):

Zurich:
Neil Martinson +49 1721994938
Deborah Unger +44 7432166622

Berlin:
T: +49 30 34 38 20 666
E: press@transparency.org

FIFA’s own statement on the new Ethics commitetee:

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FIFA statement on proposals by Ethics Committee regarding Code of Ethics:

“FIFA fully supports the initiative to further enhance the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE) announced today by the chairmen of the adjudicatory and investigatory chambers of the independent Ethics Committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbély(…)The request and proposals are in line with the ongoing FCE revision process started by FIFA and the Ethics Committee in 2013. We are dedicated to improving FIFA as an organisation, and will continue to strengthen its governance and accountability. Our work in this area continuously evolves, and we are focused on achieving the highest standards for the international football community(…)The current version of the FIFA Code of Ethics was drafted in cooperation with and was approved by the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) in 2012, following a proposal from the Task Force Ethics Committee established at the time, as part of FIFA’s reform process initiated in 2011”.

Link on FIFA: FIFA Ethics Committee – Code of Ethics Press Release

Link on Transparency International: Transparency International – FIFA Press Release